Kalyn Ponga Played 20 Minutes on a Suspected Broken Arm and Still Scored
Ponga hurt his left forearm in the 51st minute of New Zealand’s World Cup opener against Australia, when it hit an opponent’s head. He stayed on. Nine minutes later he left Cameron Munster behind on the 40-metre line, stepped Reece Walsh and scored next to the posts.
He came off in the 70th minute. By full time his arm was in a sling, and New Zealand had lost 24-22.
What the Kiwis have said
Coach Stacey Jones did not pretend it was minor. “Kalyn, we’re not too sure yet. It’s a possible fracture of the arm,” he told reporters after the match. “He’s going to go for scans and we’re not going to make any call right now on where he’s at, but he had a pretty good game.”
Jones said the bench was told what it might be after a try, and that he had to come off. “He couldn’t catch a ball or anything like that,” he said. “He was in a bit of discomfort… a lot of discomfort.”
Keano Kini, who replaced him, had his own version of the second try. “I think he even palmed them off with his bad arm.”
As of the morning of 16 October, Sydney time, no scan result had been announced. This page will be updated when one is.
It was his first game for New Zealand
Ponga played State of Origin for Queensland. He is in this tournament because the Tier 1 eligibility rules let him switch to the country of his heritage, and Thursday was his first Test in black and white.
He ran 253 metres and scored twice. His first try, early in the second half while Kotoni Staggs was in the sin bin, broke a 10-10 half-time score. The duel with Walsh was the story of the night until the injury, and BBC Sport’s report wondered aloud how Queensland’s new coach will ever choose between the two.
It is also eleven days since he played in the grand final for Newcastle, where he scored the Knights’ second try in a 19-18 loss to the Roosters.
What it does to New Zealand’s tournament
Pool A has four teams and two semi-final places. Losing to Australia leaves New Zealand needing to beat both the Cook Islands, in Christchurch on Sunday 25 October, and Fiji on 31 October, and Fiji have reached three of the last four World Cup semi-finals. The margin of defeat was only two points, so their points difference is barely dented. The live World Cup table has the current standings.
Kini is the obvious replacement at fullback. BBC Sport described Ponga and Walsh as arguably the two best fullbacks in the game, which gives a sense of the size of the gap.
Can he be back for the final?
The final is at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday 15 November, 31 days after the injury. Around the Kiwis camp, people were already pointing to Blayke Brailey, who came back three weeks after breaking his arm in Origin I this year. That is the optimistic precedent, and it depends on what the scans show and where the break is.
Ponga left the ground without going to hospital, changed with his team-mates and declined to talk an hour after full time. “He’s OK. He’s upbeat,” Jones said. “He’s obviously disappointed… He really wants to still be involved.”
